>> go higher here as we get more progress? do we go higher? >> absolutely. i don't think it's a straight line, but what everyone is hopefully waiting for is no more mention of fiscal cliff ever again. >> just talking about that. i'm so over that, but it's very, very important. >> certainly is. >> okay. as we're speaking, guys, taking the wind out of that sail again in the latest rally here. the dow was up 127 a moment ago and now a gain of 109, but it will look like the first time since july we've had back-to-back triple-digit gains. stand by. earnings from oracle and a full hour with the great ken langone in the second hour of the "closing bell." i'll see you tomorrow. and it is 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody, welcome back. i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the new york stock exchange. markets closing higher on optimism that lawmakers may be close to a deal on the fiscal

cliff. wall street, triple-digit gain, up 120 point on the industrial average. banks in the lead, 13,353. last trade in the dow jones industrial average on volume which was modest. nasdaq composite up and 3053 and the s&p 500 picks up 16 points, better than 1% on the standard & poor's at 1446. markets continuing higher at the close. are there more gains ahead? we bring in right now liz ann sanders from charles schwab and alan gael and eric steuben from russell investment, darryl pearl from epoch investments standing by who will give us a reaction to the oracle earnings once those numbers cross the wires. they should be coming out momentarily. here's the number to look for, 61 cents a share on earnings is what we're expecting on revenue of 9.02 billion. as soon as we get the numbers we'll see how oracle is doing. liz ann sanders, deal or no deal? what's your take on all of this?

>> we'll have a deal. in the first step of the process and then whatever the makeup of the deal will become more important as we go into the beginning of the year. the devil will be in the details, but i do think we get some semblance of a deal. it may not make either side terribly happy but that might be the measure of a decent deal if both sides run happy. >> a great couple of days here with triple-digit moves on the dow jones industrial average. alan gael, you want to buy into it or sell it? >> i would say that it's a little vulnerable here. i think clearly both sides are now moving in the same direction, but now it's so the conversation is about numbers, and i think we still have a good ways to go, and quite frankly i don't think the cumbaya chorus has started just yet. >> tend to agree with you. oracle is out. the revenue that we're getting is $9.1 billion in revenue, looking better than the estimate which was 9.02 billion in revenue. the, expectations, of course, 61 cents a share. we've got the revenue. we're going to get you the

earnings per share. 64 cents a share that we're going with here. 64 cents a share is non-gap. even on the top line and the bottom line, it looks like the numbers are better than expected on oracle. let's get right to jon fortt, breaking down the numbers and david epoch, david pearl, what's your take, my apologies, caved, give us your take on these numbers which are just coming out. >> good numbers which beat even the whisper estimates which was a little over 9 billion and 62 or 63 cents. even from the optimistic crowd. what's really important is this company is almost a bellwether given that this quarter included the first month after the presidential election. most of the fiscal cliff uncertainty, and yet they were still able to pull out what really looks like a good revenue quarter and a very good earnings quarter and imagine what would happen if the economy started to get better. they have a government business, and that's been slow. they are actually getting year over year increase for the first time in hardware since they

brought sun micro, actually shrunk that business, so it is looking really good, and it's at a 20% discount to the market. >> so would you buy this stock at these levels, 33 and change? >> yeah, absolutely. this is a very steady company with above average growth at a below average value, and i think most industrials in tech look very, very cheap if you're at all bullish. >> all right. let me get to jon fortt here with more head lines. stock on the move. the oracle shares rallying on the heels of these numbers. last time i checked people were worried about market share losses for big data. because there's so much unstructured data out there from cell phones and cars, et cetera. it doesn't look like they are losing market share with these numbers. what do you think? >> no, lot of good news in here, maria, particularly the licensed -- software license and cloud revenue coming in at 2.4 billion. the street was looking for 2 been the 2. one ding here, the hardware

product revenue, the consensus was for $810 million in revenue. it came in at 734 which is quite a bit below what the street was looking for. overall though operating margins to my eye at 47%, and the street wanted just shy of 46%, so across the board pretty good news, also considering the negative currency impact. that knocked about a penny off of eps, what it would have been had we been looking at constant currency. also had an impact on revenues so they would have been up around 18% i think it is in revenue. >> all right. everything looks to be on track here with this stock on the move in the extended hours. seeing a pretty good rally. 2% rally on oracle on the heels of these numbers which once again you heard are better than expected. back to the markets or the broad market story with liz ann saunders and eric, small versus larm. what do you think of the outperformer in 2013? you want to go small cap or

large caps? >> i think you probably want to own both. it's a pick them race in 2013 between large and small. i think frankly this is going to be a market in 2013 where the market does discriminate between good companies and bad companies in terms of their actual results. we've seen that so far this quarter. i'd expect that to continue a little bit less emphasis on the macro themes. >> liz ann, do you want to invest differently if we go over the cliff versus not going over the cliff? what's the strategy going into year end and going into 2013 knowing that you're not a short-term trader, but is the strategy changed if we go over the cliff? >> well, look, i think that the market would probably sell off in the near term. i'm not so sure in the medium term that that should change your strategy, but i do think it certainly sends a message that politicians in washington are as dysfunctional as they appear to be, so i think politics as a macro driver i think stays very much in -- in the picture under those circumstances, and i think it does put a damper on

psychology, investor psychology, business psychology, so it absolutely does come into play. we're certainly not telling our investors in the very near team ie between now and year end to trade around a possible outcome. i think that is a relatively dangerous thing to do. >> and alan, do you agree there? what do you want to be exposed to going into the new year from your standpoint? >> well, i would say that, first of all, i'm neutral on equities in my ridgeworth allocation strategy funds and it's because of the fiscal cliff. if you look at the underlying fundamentals, the housing market is getting better. europe appears to be moving in the right direction as is china so the fundamentals are moving in the right direction, but the truth is if washington messes this up, we could go into recession the first part of next year, so that's what's keeping the cautious one on equities. ultimately i think we will finish higher for 2013, but we've got -- we've got to get past this fiscal cliff, because if we don't we go into recession, and i will go underweight stocks. >> all right. we will leave it there.

gentlemen and liz ann seaners, good to have you on the program. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. sticking with the market and the economy, ceo co-founder ken langone. >> thank you. merry christmas. >> the co-founder of home depot, a financier, a guy who has his finger on the pulse of global business. that's why we wanted to have you for the whole hour. >> very nice. >> thank you and merry christmas to you as well. what's your take? just got the numbers from okay. here we are, every day worry after worry after worry on this fiscal cliff issue, and we see the numbers from the corporate sector blowing the cover off the ball, time and time again. >> look, there are corporations that will do well, especially now because you look at oracle. companies are aggressively figuring out ways to lower cost. technology is the most effective way to lower costs over the long term, so i'm not surprised by a company like oracle doing as

well as they have done. on the other hand, business in general is not exciting. it's okay. it's just moving along. it's -- it's not a recession, but it certainly isn't boss trart. >> which is why the whole fiscal cliff debate will be self-inflicted and push us into recession and sort of get us off traction. do you agree with the fact that businesses have been waiting reluctant to put money to work and once we get into the new year that changes? lot of money is free up? >> look, all the businesses that i know make decisions not based on what washington is going to do, take god, because who the hell knows what washington is going to. do they make decisions based on what they think they can do to impact their business oh, pand their business, so whether it's cost savings or whether it's revenue growth, the government's there. i am not as boss mettic about the effects of the fiscal cliff.

in fact, i could argue over the long term let's have the battle now. >> go over it. go over the cliff? >> let's go over it. you know, if i were a republican, i'd say, okay, i'm going to put my offer on the table. the best i can do. i think there's a lot of ways to deal with the people of 250 and below about their taxes. carve that out. take that off the table. it's no longer now a political issue. okay, mr. president, and by the way, my fervent wish is that this sitting president. >> does well. >> be the best president we've ever had in the history of the country because if he does, that all of us here, all of us all over america, will be a lot better off. we all win if he wins, so let's understand politics are over. the election is over. it's been decided. he's it. mr. president, i want you to be the very best that's ever sat in the white house, but we now have to come to the issue of when we

deal with our structural problem, and we have a very serious structural problem. what is it? >> spending. >> well, we need entitlement reform. take away social security from guys like me. raise my taxes. nothing will change in my life, and i speak for a lot of people i know. i say -- when i say i speak, i'm in the same position as a lot of other people i know. >> are you saying $250,000 group or 1 million group? this is the debate right now. >> no. what i'm saying is do something to not disturb the taxes that people at 250 and under are paying. leave them alone. now they are off the table because the president keeps saying what a horrible thing to force these people to pay higher taxes. there's got to be a creative legislative way to deal with that. >> right, right. and then say, okay, now, let talk about the fat cats. raise my taxes, go right away. understand something, maria. you get nothing, effectively

nothing, out of going after the heavyweights. >> right. >> you're not really putting dent in anything here. you're not real moving the needle in terms of debt and deficit reduction which is the goal. >> the numbers are in the masses. >> right. >> so, for example, take the age limit minimum from 65 to 67. >> that gets you $1.5 trillion apparently. >> there's other things, too. means test social security. all of a sudden i don't get social security. my lovely wife elaine doesn't get social security. you noey what? we don't need it. thank god we've done well. america can use that money in better ways. >> the devil is in the detail. talk about this throughout the hour with home depot founder and financier ken langone. i want to get your take on the tax story of 2012. does it make sense to sell the house that i want to sell, sell the stocks that i made money on, knowing that my capital gains is going to go up? i'll ask you about this coming up in the show. is that all right? >> by all means. >> up next, kentucky senator rand paul will speak with us

exclusively. we'll get reaction to john boehner's plan "b." ? >> what's his plan "b." >> we'll talk about that. not too pleased about it and the worst ceos of corporate america. herb greenberg wants to weigh in on whether there's still hope for companies on his list. ken langone will chime in on that knowing a thing or two about what makes a good ceo and leveling the field. small investors, looking at high frequently tradings where the little guy stands a chance by the hie performance programs used by the big boys on wall street. stay with us.

welcome back. as i mentioned ken langone is with me heroes my special guest. the president changing who he thinks is wealthing to those earning $400,000 a year, not 250,000. speaker boehner is threatening to a plan "b" to avoid the cliff with a vote onration rates on those only making more than $1 million but kentucky senator rand paul says entitlement cut, not tax hikes, should be the focus. senator paul, good to have you on program. thanks for joining us. >> glad to be here. >> i'm here with ken langone,

co-founder of home depot. we want to ask you about where you see things going. give us your take on where the negotiation stands right now. what can you tell us? >> i think it's a real bad idea to raise taxes. we have a struggling economy, and i think we'll have the opposite effect. i think the economy could become more sluggish with increasing taxes. you may get less revenue if you raise tax rate. that being said, i don't know where we are. no one is calling me up to give me any information on this. i'll find out if you find out first, you call me, okay? but we're not really part of the negotiations. that's being done by a couple of people, and i real think in the end as republicans we need to continue standing for what we've already stood for and that's that you stimulate the economy by leaving more money in the private sector. >> what about boehner's plan "b?" ken? >> let me go back to what senator paul said. look, in reality i don't believe people making $1 million in the year, are going to do anything.

i just don't believe it. >> i think what you mistake here it matters whose money it is. that's sort of a pejorative or a moralistic way of looking at it. the economy doesn't care whether rich people have it, middle income or poor people have it, the economy cares whether the money is in the efficient sector, the private sector or you give it to government. when it's inefficient and bad use of money to take money out of the private sector taking it from rich people, middle class or poor people, just a bad idea. >> senator, all due respect, our taxes are going to go up. they have to go up. like it or not, what i'm saying a person making $1 million will pay the higher tax and will still spend as much money. i think -- >> i'll give you examples of where it has made a difference. you know, we went after to punish rich people several years ago with a special tax on yachts. what happened is the rich did

change their habits. they went to the caribbean and bought them for the bahamas and the people who lost their jobs was the people making $50,000 a year selling, you know, making the yachts. if a guy makes 35,000 a year selling mercedes-benz and i make $250000 a year, do you think i change my habit and wait another year to buy another mercedes? that makes the guy hurting 35,000. we're all interconnected. the economy doesn't care whether you're rich or poor. >> right. >> it's just less money in the productive sector. >> senator, i get that, and i think ken is making the point that he doesn't necessarily expect major behavioral changes on the million dollar set. >> of course not. >> let mesk t t t t ts. given the fact that we are eight days away from the end of the year, eight trading days left until the end of the year until we go over the fiscal cliff, given the fact that both sides are digging in, the dems do not want to cut enough on entitlements and the republicans do not want to raise taxes, isn't it time for something to give? i mean, seriously?

>> let's be very clear. >> what are you willing to give on? >> let's be very clear what the democrats want to do on entitlements. the president said entitlements are off the table because we don't have enough time to do it, so they are not serious at all about that. i will compromise. i think we can compromise and look at military spending from the republican said and say not every dollar spent is wise or sacred. >> amen. >> i think we can also look at means testing. if the president says the rich are not paying their share share, all for means testing social security and means testing medicare, but i will tell you that the leading democrats in the senate have said social security is not broken. they won't look at the age and they won't means test because they think these programs are not broken. that's how far apart we are and why it's difficult to find a compromise because they don't think entitlements are broken. >> will you go along with the speaker's plan "b" and that is allow the $1 million and lower set to not see any tax increases and then the others above 1 million will see their taxes

raised and then you'll deal with spending cuts later? this is your party. john boehner's plan "b." will you go along with plan "b". >> if you separate the taxes into two different bills and let the democrats have a tax increase basically on the upper side, i'll vote no, but they can still get what they want by separating the bill into two pieces. that may happen, but they have already out of hand dismissed the $1 million level, so we have to find a level that they won't dismiss, and i don't know how demanding they are, because if they say 250 and we don't goat 250, then it's the democrats who are unwilling to get unless they get everything they want, it seems to me the intransigence is on their side then. >> senator, i happen to think that the real issue is entitlements. what i think we need to do is get the issue of taxes off the table. plan "b" sounds perfect to me because we're saying, hey, all right. let's take care of the people making 250 or less. your life is not going to change

at all. now what do you want to do, mr. president? what do you want to do, democrats? we will not -- >> it could happen, but they have already dismissed it. i mean, harry reid said he won't vote on plan "b" and so has the president so it's kind of become a moot point. i agree there's a way to bifurcate or have two different tax votes and allow the republicans still to vote no on these and the democrats vote yes on one of them. the deadline expires and the president gets what he wants and we move on to other issues. there is a way to let that happen. >> can the house of representatives pass a law, pass a bill, that will protect the taxes of people of 250 and below, just the house? >> they can pass both of them. in fact -- >> no, no. >> and then it will go to the senate and it will fail. >> good, good, hold it. that's what you want. let them be in the position of not taking care of the --

>> i agree with that. >> so have the bill. >> i agree. >> i think boehner is on spot. he's once again showing his smarts. >> i agree with you. the only problem is that the $1 million cutoff the democrats aren't accepting. >> fine. let them -- they have two bills. have two bills. let's address the people, the little people. the one the president keeps talking about. okay. they are now off the table. oh, we passed the bill. they won't pass it in the senate. >> i agree. >> why don't i feel like if you have two business guys or a banker and a business guy, you would have this deal done in three seconds. senator, good to have you on the program. thank you very much, senator. merry christmas. >> see you soon, appreciate it. the market closing just off the highs of the day. money moving into equities. once again 115-point rally in the dow industrial. >> hello, maria. take a look at dows. not only did we close at the highs of the day but at t two-month highs on the major

indices. heavy volume. take a look at the dow jones industrial average. we're not that far from 52-week highs, believe it or not. new highs in the industrials and new high in the consumer discretionary. home builders hit new highs, big financial names. bank of america with another good day overall. what got killed today, the safe havens, gold at three, almost four-month lows here. that's a classic one. we saw bonds going down as well. maria, at least for now they are telegraphing things are pretty rosy for 2013. >> all right, bob. thank you so much. bob pisani. so is high frequency trading ruining the markets? my next guest says absolutely, especially for the millions of individuals out there. a senate panel checking for computer-driven irregularities. take a look at what needs to happen to have the market a fair game for everybody. also ahead, dirty details revealed. walmart reportedly in another bribery scandal in mexico. are they the only company in your portfolio that should be looked at for bribery or not? let's hear what ken langone has

to say about that having done business all over the world. back in a minute. [ male announcer ] this is steve. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade.

if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes

in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com. welcome back. figures call cliff talks are stealing the spotlight but not the only thing happening in washington today. hampton pearson with a very important hearing. >> reporter: a kill switch proposal is coming in early 2013

from the exchanges. it's enn response to the high-profile technology errors around the facebook ipo and specifically about night capital's $440 million loss due to a software error. the switch would be operated by the exchanges and provide a systematic shutoff if a firm went over a prescribed limit. >> we're getting close to a possible framework as we it rate through the different possible ways to implement something like that and in the industry what parts should be mandatory and what part should be optional, whether it's at the clearing level, whether it should be at the sro level. all those types of issues are under discussion. >> the other major concern for lawmakers, dark pools where a security's price along with the identity of the buyer or seller is not always disclosed. right now there are 40 dart pools in the u.s. operating alongside 13 public exchanges. the concern, there's a potential disadvantage to the overall markets and, of course, retail investors. maria? >> that. ton, thank you so much. as the debate continues on

capitol hill, back on wall street, seth marin argues that high-frequency trading benefits the few at the extension of many and is taking a toll on investor confidence and seth joins me right now along with special guest host ken langone. you're very critical of high-frequency trading saying it benefits the few at the expense of many. why in. >> that's correct. you have a very few number of constituents, and this is very much of a zero sum game, and they make their money at the expense of all of those folks who are investors who invest in the mutual funds and the pension funds, and the most important thing that we need to reinstill in this country is investor confidence. >> yeah. >> unfortunately, all of the major blow ups, recently the flash crash, facebook or the knight fiasco are interrelated with high-frequency trading. >> that's a good point to make, but i wonder -- i wonder what this does for liquidity.

high-frequency traders are part of the liquidity pool, aren't they? you were on the bofrtd new york stock exchange for a long time so you're familiar with this, better than movement what's your take on this issue? >> look, it means nothing to investors, to investors. to traders it's a big difference. if you're talking about our capital markets to accommodate people to invest money over the long-term, i don't think it matters. why? because it gets down to earnings and sales and management and growth prospects. i mean, this is a lot of noise. i know one thing, this was certainly brought forth a lot sooner because when they did away -- when they went down to pen pennies, game changed. but a nickel, and dick raso said that. dick argued i thought very effectively when he was head of the exchange don't go below a nickel. >> yeah. >> but all i'm saying is this is

just noise. if you own a company and you watch it and you look at what it's doing and what its management decisions are. >> right. >> but seth is saying the high-frequency traders -- jump in, what do you say to that? this really doesn't matter. >> any time the number of orders that they are cancelling is 95% of them and the amount of liquidity or the time that the liquidity is present is milliseconds, who can take advantage of that and high-frequently traders play and you don't need market makers. they can trade among themselves and the s.e.c. from a regulatory perspective really has to focus on, you know, instilling and maintaining investor confidence and, you know, that means that not all constituents can play happily in the same sandbox and the guiding principle has to be do they and are they helpful in capital formation? are they investors, or are they helping companies go public and if it's not, you know, you can't treat everybody equally. you have to make decisions to

help this economy and capital formation, and companies to be able to go public so that they can raise money to reinvest in the economy and the high frequency traders, they do not hold positions more than the end of that day. >> yeah. >> if i want to buy 100,000 shares of lilly, and i'm going to hold it for the long term, it really doesn't matter much to me whether i pay 49 or 49.05 or 49.10 because i'm an investor. >> long term. >> look, let's be honest. over the years traders assumed what i consider to be an unreasonable position in the investment process. and i think what's happening is the traders are now seeing the high frequency guys stealing some of their thunder. >> yeah. >> the spreads are going away. >> right. >> i mean, guess what? that's not the best friend of a trader. >> no. >> the volume in the market used to be comprised of retail investors and institutional investors. any time you have the volume of the market being two-thirds high-frequency trading, you go from really an investor market to a commodity-type trading

market. >> yeah. >> that's not healthy for any part of this capital formation or investing public. >> all right. we'll leave it there. >> okay. >> good to have you on the program, seth. thanks so. we'll be following this as it develops. the worst bosses list. our herb greenberg coming out with his ranking of the worst ceos of the year and whether those companies spiro agnew leadership and some say walmart has a lot to learn from its bribery scandal in mexico. don't miss it. back with more with ken langone.

welcome back. a second "new york times" article alleging widespread bribery in mexico in the early 2000s. emcaruso-cabrera with the story. >> the article like the first one in april is lengthy and alleges bribery during the construction of 19 different stores in mexico, specifically multiple instances that says when a payment was made a critical construction permit was issued. the article's focuses on the most controversial store in walmart, this one which was built in 2004. the store i alleges walmart had a zoning map changed so they could build a store in a place that would otherwise have been

prohibited. the store was controversial because it was near these, the country's very famous pyramids. they are some 2,000 years old. in a statement walmart said the allegations in the paper, quote, have been part of the company's ongoing investigation and potential violations of the u.s. foreign corrupt practices act that we began more than a year ago. shares of walmart hardly moved on this news today. actually finished higher by 30%, up 11% since the first "new york times" article appeared in april. lawyers say that could be because when they areful with the enforcement of the fcpa, they say the fine walmart might face may not be material. one told me at the very most he thinks $150 million. walmart brings in $100 billion in revenues every single quarter. the biggest fine was paid by german conglomerate and that was for corruption on a much wider scale than what's being alleged here. walmart did reveal in a filing back in november that its internal investigation had been extended to china, india and

brazil and this may not be over yet. maria? >> thank you so much. so, does walmart have a bribery problem? my next guest thinks so and it's part of a wider problem in the company's culture. he's nelson liechtenstein for the study of labor, work and democracy. thanks for joining us. >> good to be here. >> you said what walmart did in mexico is absolutely illegal and it will continue to roll over the local people in the name of business. >> well, it's been doing that for years and years. it's desperate to expand abroad. only has about 29% of its sales abroad and wants to get that way up because its market is mature in the u.s. and abroad is where it wants to go. if it can look back 20 years, it finds local conditions, local laws, local ways of doing things, and walmart just imposes its own business model regardless on these countries and on the community there. in mexico it's illegal, of course, but just an example, tip

of an iceberg for a larger pattern of a company. >> professor, home depot has 100 stores in mexico, and they are all doing very well with superb leadership. if we ever had anybody engage in anything like walmart is accused of, we'd be after them with hard-nail boots. i have a question for you, sir. do you have any specific facts to substantiate the opinion you just put on this television show? >> well, yes. walmart has been in the past, has repeatedly been cited. >> no, i'm asking you, if -- i'm asking you if you have any facts. don't cite somebody else. that's hear say. >> do i, no, i'm not an investigator of walmart and i read the "new york times" article and the article was pretty devastating. >> oh, the "new york times," that pillar of journalism that never has any opinions. let me tell you what?

in a selection of who is more likely to be telling the truth, walmart or "the times," the "times" doesn't even get in the race. >> well, let me say this. >> you're saying your source is the "new york times"? shame on you as a professor. >> let me tell you this. the walmart prides itself on its culture, on its internal culture. it's very prideful of that, and as distinct, but what that means is part of it is get it done and we don't care how it's done. >> that's not so. that's just not so. you just -- do you have any facts that substantiate what you said? >> yes. >> give me one. >> yes. >> walmart in 2008, they settled 63 wage and hour claims for a total of over $500 billion, and it -- it de facto admitted it was incorrect. what it was doing was telling store managers get your labor costs down, get your -- get your costs of doing business down. we don't care how you're doing it and they agreed in the fall of 2008 that, yes, they had done

it, and they paid up. >> wait a minute, there's a big leap of faith from get your costs down to we don't care how you did it. i happen to know walmart. i've known a lot of the walmart people for many, many years. every single one i know plays the game according to the rules. every one of them, from tom coughlin many years ago all the way down and for walmart, every businessman says to people running a people, get your costs down to the best you can, but i can't -- you said, quote, you said, quote, we don't care how you do it. have you got proof of that? >> what's the proof? >> glad you mentioned the vice president of the company. he was indicted for -- >> he was president. he was president. >> embezzlement, indicted and convicted of embezzlement about eight years ago. >> not embezzlement at all. your facts are wrong. it was not embezzlement. >> ended up under house arrest.

his excuse was that he took money from the company because he wanted to use it to bribe union officials. >> not so. >> not so. >> that was his excuse. he didn't do it. >> we're talking about walmart in the 2000s here, that's what we're talking about, so he was not -- was he running walmart in the 2000s? >> earlier. >> absolutely. he was a major figure. >> let me ask the professor a question. do you have anything to substantiate that walmart said get your costs down? we don't care how you do it. that's what you said. >> i just mentioned. >> no, no, no. you said -- you said walmart, get your costs down, we don't care how you do it. >> yes. there are numerous lawsuits that have been successful against walmart on the grounds that the company here and abroad has -- has violated laws, labor laws and others, because of the pressure they put on store managers and others to get their costs down, and walmart admitted

it in 2008. they paid up over $500 million. >> it's a generalization for you to say that walmart, is you know, dealing in bribery and that's the way business is done, and, ken, i mean, can you make the case -- >> maria. >> i didn't precisely say that. >> that bribery is a part of life in mexico? >> i'll -- i'll make an absolute statement. i would be shocked if home depot did anything untoward or unethical or illegal in mexico. we have 100 stores there, and i know this. frank blake and the board of directors would come down with a ton of bricks on the person. >> what about walmart? >> i believe walmart is the same way. i -- i'm old-fashioned. i believe you're innocent until proven guilty. >> well, walmart itself -- walmart itself has opened an investigation on the grounds. >> good. >> the statement today was did

not deny the "times" investigation. they just said we're investigating it ourselves. >> that's fine. >> what's clear is in 2006 when walmart got wind of all of this they looked at it for a while and then they shut it down. they shut it down. >> we'll leave it there. >> thank you very much, professor. >> thank you. up next, the worst ceos of 2012 gets a name, at least according to our herb greenberg. he's here next. what do they think they need to show strong leadership and i bet ken langone has something to say on that as well. nice rally yesterday and today to start the week. our top money pros will give you a leg up on tomorrow morning's trade. back in a moment. and like something... or you can get out there and actually like something. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty.

and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above.

and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when the spx crossed above its 50-day moving average, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i saw the trend. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it looked really strong. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i jumped right on it. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 since i've switched to charles schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 ...i've been finding opportunities like this tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a lot more easily. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like today, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was using their streetsmart edge trading platform tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i saw a double bottom form. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i called one of their trading specialists tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i bounced a few ideas off of him. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 they're always there for me. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i've got tools that let me customize my charts tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and search for patterns as they happen. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 plus webinars, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 live workshops, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 research. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 whatever i need. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so when that double bottom showed up, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was ready to make my move. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 all for $8.95 a trade. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 can you believe it? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i love it when you talk chart patterns. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

trade up to 6 months commission-free tdd# 1-800-345-2550 with a $50,000 deposit. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-790-3803 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and open an account, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 now with no trade minimums. well, the clock is ticking. 2012 winding down. and that's time for herb greenberg's worst ceo list and herb joins us with the bottom three. herb. >> maria, let start with j.c. penney's ron johnson. his sin, way too optimistic in offering up guidance on what supposedly is a turnaround. the result of a promising and underdelivering. the reason he's not winner of this list is because you have to give him a chance to see if he can actually pull penney out of the hole. next is really a tough one, one i really anguished over and thought this guy might be number one and that is steve ballmer of microsoft. after years of missteps and playing follow the leader and the windows part of business, which is really only 25% of revenue, windows 8 was the

trigger. it just simply hasn't knocked the cover off the ball, and that's after years, as i say, of missteps in this side of the business. in the end, however, the worst ceo easily is groupon's andrew mason. this has been nothing short of a disaster. and from a ceo standpoint i would suspect many would look at him and say a joke, an expensive joke for those who bought in early on the stock, and as i've previously said, this now appears to be a public company in search of a real business or maybe someone to execute what they have. all of this makes you actually really appreciate the good ceos out there, and there are quite a few. i have a number of them along with my worst list in a column right now on cnbc.com. maria? >> herb, we will go to that. what's your reaction to that? >> herb, how big was the universe that you picked these companies from? >> this universe is out of my universe of companies i watch and that have been in the news,

ken, so i can go in. >> i asked you how big it was. >> how many companies did you look at, herb? >> in this case i probably look at two dozen or so and then i narrowed is down? >> is it fair. >> yes. >> come on, herb, you're a pro. >> is that fair in. >> yeah, for me it is. >> well, i guess you're writing the rules. >> i'm writing the rules. ken, i write the rules on my column. >> well, go ahead, go write. >> you're saying he should have looked at 500. >> absolutely. >> because it would be skewed if you look at natural resources companies and others. it would almost seemed obvious based on the metrics. it gets beyond the me tricks and have you to pull in the subjective types of things. i've been doing this for a few decades that i might look at. groupon, obvious. >> have you ever run a company, herb? >> i have -- ken, let me -- >> i haven't either, herb. i plead guilty. have you ever been a ceo, herb? >> you know, actually i co-ran a two-person company. i know we've got to go, but i

actually have been watching -- >> herb is the ceo of his life. >> don't judge the path the indian takes until you walk in his moccasins. >> can i give you that advice when you're monday morning quarterbacking some team you've been watching over the weekend? >> what? >> some sports team, when you're monday morning quarterbacking some quarterback? >> i can only watch one game at a time and i have trouble doing that. the giants had a tough weekend. >> happy holidays, merry christmas. what you need to know for tomorrow morning's markets. up next, we have the pros and how they're looking at this market. stay with us. anything can happen. restaura is, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. [ male announcer ] when it comes to the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪

[ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help.

welcome back. ken is with me today as our special guest host on the "closing bell." we have 30 seconds on the clock. our next guest will tell us what will move the market tomorrow morning and what things will impact their money. rob smalley and drew and american wealth management. good to see you, guys. rob, with you, 30 seconds on the clock. what moves money tomorrow? >> tomorrow, i will be looking at earnings from federal express, bed bath&beyond and

permits on the consumer certificate and the economy as a whole. 2012 was a great year for corporate debt. yields and sprends are tight and a strengthening in this economy could lead to investors reallocating out of equity, out of corporate debt into equity, a major risk for the corporate bond market in 2013. >> we'll be watching that. drew, 30 seconds on the clock. what do you want to watch tomorrow? >> we will watch what congress is doing, we will watch what congress is doing and watch what congress is doing. after that, we remain diversified. you don't have a deal until a deal is done and the gains could get wiped out. you don't know. stay well diversified. if this debt ceiling isn't taken care of this year, it will overhang into next year. hang on to your gold and stay well diversified even into hedge equity. >> it's all about the fiscal

cliff from your standpoint. last but not least, what are you looking for? >> today, we closed above the o momentum in play for the 1460 level. japan is trading at the top range of a 6-day trend channel. we're looking for a break above that and uranium had a couple very good days. the last we saw was august and looking for a continued move higher and above the moving average. >> thank you very much. we'll be watching those events for tomorrow's trading session after a 150 point rally today. stay with us. to the best vacation spot on earth.

(all) the gulf! it doesn't matter which of our great states folks visit. mississippi, alabama, louisiana or florida, they're gonna love it. shaul, your alabama hospitality is incredible. thanks, karen. love your mississippi outdoors. i vote for your florida beaches, dawn. bill, this louisiana seafood is delicious. we're having such a great year on the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. now is the perfect time to visit anyone of our states. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride, go fishing or just lay in the sun. we've got coastline to explore and wildlife to photograph. and there's world class dining with our world famous seafood. so for a great vacation this year, come to the gulf. its all fabulous but i give florida the edge. right after mississippi.

you mean alabama. say louisiana or there's no dessert. this invitation is brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. welcome back. no observation tonight because we will button up the program with ken gone. what do you think? >> i hope the republicans stand firm on the option b, is that what you call it? >> a million -- >> i like it. separated into two parts, taxes stay where they are for the people with 250 and below. if they want to do something above that, fine. make it two separate bills. send it over to the senate, say,

okay, you're worried about the little people, we've just taken care of the little people. don't mean that pejoratively, in the context of how much money they make or incomes. >> we know what you mean. >> we all know if we don't go over the cliff, go over the cliff, get a deal, taxes are going higher on the highest earners. >> don't forget, this, to me, is the shrimp cocktail to the main course. the main course is the debt limit. my position is simple. get this thing to the point where you say to the president, you care about the lower income people, fine, we're going to address that. here you are. now, what do you want to do? >> they have to have spending cuts ahead of that debt ceiling. >> you can't tax the american people enough to make up for the amount of money we're spending. >> as a savvy investor you are, knowing dividend and taxes go up next year, do you want to sell in the last two weeks? >> first of all, i don't know what the word "sell" means. i love